


The Lunar Goddess

by magicsophicorn



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Mythology, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-23
Updated: 2016-11-23
Packaged: 2018-09-01 19:43:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8635717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magicsophicorn/pseuds/magicsophicorn
Summary: Dorothy is an attendant at the temple of the Lunar Goddess. An unexpected encounter while collecting firewood one day will change her life forever.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Red Kansas Week day 3 - Mythology

The sounds and smells of the forest soothed Dorothy’s soul as she walked the familiar path through the trees.

This was her favourite part of the day.

Most of the other temple attendants hated being sent out to fetch the firewood, but not Dorothy. The forest had been her home for too many years before joining the temple for her to ever fear it like they did.

But more than that it made her feel _important_.

She loved knowing that tonight, when the High Priestess lit the bonfire in honour of the Lunar Goddess, that without her it couldn’t have happened. As an attendant she may not be allowed to participate in the ceremony itself, but at least she could honour the Goddess in her work.

Dorothy paused. She was sure she had heard a noise.

She listened intently and after a moment she heard it again – the sound of an animal whimpering somewhere to her left. Without hesitation she left the path, pushing her way through the bushes to try to find the poor creature.

It didn’t take long.

She could hear that she was getting closer so she hurried her steps. Suddenly her foot caught on a log and she tripped, tumbling to the ground and scattering her firewood around her.

When she looked up from the floor she found that she was lying face to face with an enormous jet-black wolf.

Once, many years before she joined the temple, Dorothy had been attacked by a wolf. It had been a mangy, snarling, beast which had managed to catch her foot in its jaws, and she had had to smash it over the head with a rock to get away. She still had the scars to prove it.

But this wolf was different.

There was a different sort of intelligence behind its eyes, so much so that it seemed almost human somehow.

Dorothy pushed herself up into a sitting position, surprised at how unafraid she felt in that moment.

Her eyes took in the enormity of the wolf, it must have been at least as big as she was, and she realised that she had found the source of the whimpering noise she had been following.

One of the wolf’s back legs was caught in a hunter’s trap and it was whimpering in pain.

She crawled towards it tentatively.

The wolf watched her.

“I’m going to get this thing off of you, it might hurt though.”

She wasn’t sure exactly why she felt the need to explain, but there was something about the wolf which made her almost certain that it could understand her.

Carefully she grasped either side of the trap and slowly prised it open. The wolf howled in pain as its leg was freed, and it tried to stand but immediately collapsed when it put its weight on the injured leg.

Dorothy reached out a hand towards it, but the wolf growled at her and she quickly withdrew her hand.

“I can help, please let me look at your leg.”

The wolf lowered its head and rested it on its front paws with a soft whine. Dorothy took that to mean she had permission to continue. She shuffled forward and gently lifted the wolf’s injured leg. She could immediately feel that it was broken.

“I need to put a splint on your leg, will you let me do that?”

The wolf nodded its head and Dorothy gently lowered its injured leg back down to the ground. She searched around her and found two of the sticks she had gathered for firewood which were the right length and thickness to use as a splint. She quickly tore off two strips of fabric from the bottom of her robe to use as ties. She would no doubt be in trouble with the High Priestess for damaging her sacred robe, but in that moment she couldn’t bring herself to care.

Lifting the wolf’s leg once more she adjusted the bone as best she could then quickly pressed the sticks on either side, wrapping the torn cloth around and tying it tightly to keep everything in place. It was not the most professional of splints, a true healer would certainly have been able to do better, but it would at least allow the bone to set and the wolf to hopefully be able to walk.

“There,” she said, smiling at the odd sight of the fearsome creature with scraps of blue and white cloth tied around its leg, “it’ll hurt but you should be able to put enough weight on it to stand and walk. You won’t be able to run though. I’m sorry, I’m not a healer, that’s the best I could do.”

The wolf shakily got to its feet, huffing air out of its nose when it put weight on the injured leg, but managing to stand this time. It took a step towards her and Dorothy was overwhelmed by the gratitude she could see in its eyes.

She tentatively held out a hand, and the wolf pressed its head against it, nuzzling into her palm. She would have been content to stay there with the wolf forever, she felt such a sense of peace and love while stroking its head, but then the wolf turned away and limped into a bush and was gone.

Dorothy sat for a moment, enjoying the lingering sense of calm the wolf left in its wake. But then she remembered her duties and reluctantly gathered up her dropped firewood before heading back to the temple.

\---------------------------

Dorothy hummed softly to herself as she swept the floor of the temple.

It had been a week since her encounter with the injured wolf in the woods, and she found herself thinking about it whenever her mind was unoccupied.

She wondered if the wolf was alright. She hoped so.

Sometimes she dreamed about it at night. The wolf would come to her and she would climb up onto its back and together they would ride off into the moon to live there with the Lunar Goddess in paradise forever.

She smiled to herself at the thought. It was incredible the things ones imagination could come up with.

Picking up her broom and removing her sandals Dorothy entered the inner sanctum of the temple.

The moment she stepped over the threshold a blinding white light exploded into existence before the altar, and she could do nothing but cover her eyes with her hand and fall to the floor.

After a moment the light seeping in through her eyelids dimmed, but did not go out altogether.

“My dearest Dorothy.”

It was a woman’s voice. Rich like honey and the most beautiful sound she had ever heard.

Dorothy opened her eyes and wanted to weep at the vision before her.

In front of the altar stood the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. Her hair was long and dark, cascading around her shoulders in soft waves. She glowed with an ethereal light, which radiated out like an aura and anything caught in her light seemed like a brighter and truer version of itself.

She knew without a shadow of a doubt that this was the Lunar Goddess herself.

“Don’t be afraid, I have come to offer you a choice,” the Goddess said, every word feeling like a caress to Dorothy’s heart.

“You have served me faithfully here in the temple for many years, and I have watched you for all of them. Then when I needed you the most you did not hesitate to rescue me. So I have come to offer you a reward.”

“My Goddess, I don’t understand,” Dorothy stammered. “When did I rescue you? I have never been honoured by your appearance before."

The Lunar Goddess smiled and held out her hand. In it she held two tattered strips of blue and white cloth.

“The wolf,” Dorothy gasped, “you were the wolf?”

“Indeed I was. Would you like to hear what I offer?”

Dorothy stood up, no longer feeling any trace of fear, and nodded. 

“I wish to offer you the stars. Come and live with me in the heavens, my darling. You could return to earth at any time if you wished, but for as long as you remained in the heavens with me you would have eternal life."

Dorothy was unable to speak. She could hardly believe that this was real, that any of this was happening. For years she had served in this temple, she had sung countless songs telling of the Lunar Goddess' beauty and her kindness, she knew all the stories by heart. But there was one thing she didn't know. 

"What is your name?" She whispered.

The Lunar Goddess smiled, surprise and delight evident within it.

"I have appeared to many mortals over the centuries, no one has ever asked me that before, not even my Priestesses."

She stepped towards Dorothy.

"My true name, is Ruby. I have never had anyone to share that with before." She looked suddenly shy, "I would like to share the skies with you too, if you wish it."

She held out her hand, offering it to Dorothy.

She hesitated only for the briefest of moments before taking it, and stepping with her into the light of the heavens forever.


End file.
